The Ones: Maxo Kream’s “Meet Again”

With artists releasing songs at a fast and furious pace it’s difficult for the average hip-hop head to keep track of it all—no matter how tapped in they are. That’s why we created The Ones, a daily post to highlight the song you need to hear curated by the Levels team. We sort through all the new songs—across all the platforms and subgenres—so you don’t have to. Thank us later.

Maxo Kream - “Meet Again”

Few rappers can piece together autobiographical and reflective raps as well as Maxo Kream does. On his latest single, “Meet Again,” the Houston emcee revisits the heartfelt approach he took on “Roaches,” to talk about how the criminal justice system is tearing his world apart.

Right from the jump, you can hear the despair in Maxo’s voice as he recites the song’s chorus: “I got homies in the grave, I got brothers in the pen/I got some that’s comin’ home, I got some that’s going in.” That somber tone is present throughout “Meet Again,” whether Maxo is checking on his locked-up homie’s mother (“Seen your momma yesterday, gave her money for your books”) or dealing with the financial burden of helping his friend get a lighter sentence (“I dropped 40 on a lawyer, tryna reduce your sentence”). Maxo also has to come to terms with witnessing his own flesh and blood have their lives upended yet again: “My pops back in the system, he might just die in prison/My mom is co-defendant so she got locked up with him.” All this while experiencing a legal battle of his own: “They want me locked up in a cage I’m fightin’ RICO just like Mitch.” Maxo Kream is baring his soul, as he desperately tries to make sure that his world doesn’t completely crumble.